Monsters of Depravity
by Lupa Eira
Summary: Of course Demeter sensed his presence. How could she not? It had been years, but when she danced, she danced only for him. Basically, my version of Demeter and Macavity's background, starting at "Macavity the Mystery Cat" and then telling it in flashback. Rating will probably go up.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all and welcome! So I recently rewatched CATS and the song "Macavity, the Mystery Cat" really struck a chord in me for a bunch of different reasons. One of the things that came from that was a very specific idea. See, I've had a vague inclination to write a story about the background between Demeter and Macavity for a while now, but I didn't have a very focused idea of what the story would actually be. Now I do, and it's screaming to be written! So here it is, my version of the background concerning Macavity, Demeter, Bombalurina, and possibly a few appearances by Munkustrap and other characters. However, this will mostly be about the first three. Enjoy, rate, and review!**

**Note: This starts out during the song "Macavity, the Mystery Cat" and the rest of the story will basically be in flashback.**

**Other Note: This story will be told from Demeter's point of view in third person.**

Prologue

When Old Deuteronomy was kidnapped, mass panic ensued in the Jellicle Tribe. The only ones who maintained a semblance of calmness were Munkustrap, because he was required as the leader, Alonzo as his second in command, and (oddly) the Rum Tum Tugger, who somehow seemed to understand that his reputation meant that many would look to him for an example. It was admirable in the first and the latter, considering that the cat kidnapped was their father.

The only others not panicking were two queens, Bombalurina and Demeter—and the latter at least should have been the most distressed out of everyone. As it was, Demeter could feel herself trembling in the semi-darkness. She met Bombalurina's eyes and knew the red queen could feel it too—a stirring. A familiar rhythm, a familiar music, coupled with the desire for the other Jellicles to understand _precisely_ what they had been plunged into.

The other Jellicles looked up with a mixture of confusion and curiosity as Demeter began to dance. Even Bombalurina looked somewhat surprised, impressed that the older queen had really started dancing. While it was not uncommon for Jellicles to burst into song and dance, here it seemed entirely inappropriate, and no one was familiar with the selection of her choice. At first, her movements seemed unsure, almost instinctive but not at all planned, as though she was responding to an unseen stimulus.

Demeter silently thanked the Everlasting Cat that her mate Munkustrap had gone off after the criminals for the moment, and was not present to see her dancing so…provocatively…for _him_. As it was, she could practically feel her daughter Jemima's wide-eyed stare, and she could definitely hear the reactions of the other cats—normally quite reserved, Demeter never danced like this even at the Jellicle Ball. It was a novelty, which seemed to be helping the panic be alleviated in a way.

"_Macavity's a mystery cat__  
__He's called the Hidden Paw__  
__For he's a master criminal who can defy the law__  
__He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard__  
__The Flying Squad's despair__  
__For when they reach the scene of crime Macavity's not there!_"

The tribe became spellbound as Demeter's movements became even more deliberately erotic. Demeter, for her part, could not see the junkyard any longer—she saw the dim lights of a makeshift club, with toms leering at her from in front of the stage…but she was not there for them, she was there for _him_, and luckily for their sakes most of the toms knew that…no. No, she was at the Jellicle junkyard, and the club was only a memory. Wasn't it?

Bombalurina grinned when she saw that Demeter had lost herself and watched as the black and gold queen continued:_  
"__Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity__  
__He's broken every human law__  
__He breaks the law of gravity__  
__His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare__  
__And when you reach the scene of crime, Macavity's not there!__  
_

_You may seek him in the basement__  
__You may look up in the air__  
__But I tell you once and once again__  
__Macavity's not there!"__  
_

Now Bombalurina joined in, and some of the tribe looked relieved—the saucy red queen dancing provocatively was nothing new or unexpected. The fact that she was dancing with Demeter, however, was—they hardly ever associated with one another, yet judging by this song, which seemed as though they had rehearsed and performed it a hundred times, it seemed they had a shared history. But what? Why were they speaking of a hardened criminal, who had just kidnapped their beloved Jellicle leader, with such reverence?

Demeter, for her part, rested in a crouching position and waited for Bombalurina to finish her solo, needing no cue. Her whole body, from her ears to her tail, was quivering with anticipation of the familiar moves. Her stomach was roiling with utter fear, nervousness, and—dare she admit it?—enjoyment. She was enjoying this; she was dancing the ingrained moves with rapture. For him. As if she had never left.

_"__Macavity's a ginger cat__  
__He's very tall and thin__  
__You would know him if you saw him for his eyes are sunken in__  
__His brow is deeply lined in thought__  
__His head is highly domed__  
__His coat is dusty from neglect__  
__His whiskers are uncombed__  
__He sways his head from side to side__  
__With movements like a snake__  
__And when you think he's half asleep__  
__He's always wide awake!__Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity__  
__For he's a fiend in feline shape__  
__A monster of depravity__  
__You may meet him in a by-street__  
__You may see him in the square__  
__But when a crime's discovered then Macavity's not there!__"__  
_

Demeter stood, reciting the words and stretching her hand upwards. As she sang, she glanced at the younger queen, sharing a private smile.

_"__He's outwardly respectable…"__  
"__I know he cheats at cards…"_ Bombalurina's mouth twitched in an effort not to laugh._  
"__And his footprints are not found in any files of Scotland Yard's.__"_

"

_And when the larder's looted—"__  
"__Or the jewel cases rifled—"_ _  
"__Or when the milk is missing—"__  
"__Or another Peke's been stifled—"__  
"__Or the greenhouse glass is broken—"_

"_And the trellis past repair—"__  
"__There's the wonder of the thing:__  
__Macavity's not there!"__  
_

Now—now! Now Demeter always sang for him and only him, and this time was no different. She could practically feel him watching her, could practically hear his praise—despite the scream in the back of her head that remembered everything he had ever done, to her or to others, somehow, here, it eventually never mattered._  
_

"_Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity!__  
__There never was a cat of such deceitfulness and suavity__  
__He always has an alibi and one or two to spare__  
__Whatever time the deed took place, Macavity wasn't there!__And they say that all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known…"__  
"__I might mention Mungojerrie,"_ Demeter said with a smile, back to back with Bombalurina.

"_I might mention Griddlebone,"_ Bombalurina replied with a similar smile._  
"__Are nothing more than agents for the cat who all the time__  
__Just controls the operations__  
__The Napoleon of Crime!"_ they shouted out together, drawn into an ecstasy they could feel was almost taboo. They danced, feeling electrified, and continued:

"

_Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity__  
__He's a fiend in feline shape__  
__A monster of depravity__  
__You may meet him in a by-street__  
__You may see him in the square__  
__But when a crime's discovered then Macavity's not there!__"_

They stopped.

They stopped, and for a moment there was shocked silence.

Then Demeter realized, almost too late, that his presence had not been an imagined memory after all. She realized the trick, and she jumped on Macavity without hesitation, revealing his disguise. The rest was history—Macavity disappeared, and the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees managed to somehow conjure Old Deuteronomy from thin air. And they were all hailed as heroes.

Demeter wanted to sob.

Maybe Macavity really had been trying to take over the Jellicle Tribe, but she didn't honestly think that was the real reason he had come back. No, he had been there for her. She was sure of it.

Afterwards, alone in her den, Demeter looked up when Munkustrap came in. His features sagged with tiredness, but his eyes were bright with hurt.

"I saw you dancing," he said brokenly. "I saw you singing _that song_. Demeter, you looked like you were _enjoying_ it!"

"I hate that song," Demeter said passionately. And it was the truth. She _did_ hate that song, a hate so strong that some might have mistaken it for love—or perhaps it was a hate that could easily transform to love, and vice versa. "The tribe deserved an explanation, and that was the best way for them to be able to understand what they were dealing with."

"Damn it, Demeter!" Munkustrap snarled, "I _saw you_. You were dancing _for him_, not for the tribe! And I…I just don't understand! After everything he did to you, you still…!" Overcome with emotion, the protector of the Jellicles sat down, exhaustion apparent in his face.

"I never meant to hurt you," Demeter said quietly.

"I think the only thing more painful would have been if you physically clawed my heart out," Munkustrap admitted with conviction. Demeter flinched, her own feelings of betrayal welling up inside her. She looked at her mate with open dismay, but no surprise. Without a word, she got up and left, unable to say a single thing in her own defense.

She walked and walked, efficiently keeping out of sight and scent of the other cats. She spotted her daughter Jemima with a group of friends and paused to listen.

"…just never seen her like that before," Jemima was saying. "I knew that Dad had rescued her from Macavity, but I didn't know anything beyond that."

"No offense, Jem, but the fact that she was dancing with _Bombalurina_ of all cats was pretty weird," Etcetera replied.

"I know!" Jemima exclaimed. "I just don't understand it! I mean, I've never seen her sing or dance like that even at the Jellicle Ball!"

"Maybe you should ask her," Victoria suggested.

That was when Demeter fled, her heart full of turmoil. How could she tell Jemima that story, full of darkness and hatred? It was the last thing she ever wanted to tell anyone. Even Munkustrap didn't know the full extent of the tale. With her heart pounding, the black and gold queen settled inside an old pipe far away from the normal junkyard paths, curling up in a tight ball.

Even though she would rather have died than relive it by telling her daughter, the memories still tortured her, rising unbidden in her mind.

She could remember the exact moment she first heard his name…the exact moment she became involved…the exact moment when she should have run but didn't. And the memories came with a tidal force, reverberating inside her skull in a ceaseless motion. Demeter squeezed her eyes shut, seeing the light of the moon at her very first Jellicle Ball…

**So? What do you think? I'm not sure how many people will actually be interested in this, but yeah. I should be updating once every week or two. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second installment! Thanks to those who viewed and enjoyed and are back for more. To those who are seeing this now, welcome! Enjoy, rate, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CATS. Just because I'm making something out of the nearly nonexistent canon of the original story does not make it mine.**

**Note: I based the overall progression of the Jellicle Ball off of the choreography of the movie. I'm sure it's a bit different in other productions.**

Chapter One

_Macavity_.

All the adults were whispering the name when they thought the kits couldn't hear. It was like a creeping, icy cold hand of darkness and death, subduing them all. Except that was not all. The death of one of their own, just a day before the Jellicle Ball, was weighing heavily on the atmosphere.

_Who killed Lancelot?_ No one would admit to it, and there had been almost no evidence. Tracking the killer had proved nearly impossible. All the cats had started to regard each other, even their families, with suspicion—a bad omen the day of the Jellicle Ball.

_ It must have been Macavity. Lancelot was Mara's brother, after all._

_ But who's Mara?_

_ You know, that cat who committed suicide a few years ago. She was the mother of the little black tuxedo cat…Quaxo, I think his name is?_

Demeter hadn't known Lancelot very well, but his death had truly been horrible. He had been found murdered, clearly having been through quite a struggle before he was forcefully drowned. Demeter shuddered to think about it, then shook her head to clear it and continued absentmindedly eating dinner.

"You won't want to eat too much, dear," her mother, a golden queen named Hera, advised her. "It's your first Jellicle Ball; you won't want to throw up if you overexert yourself."

"I just don't understand why we're still having the ball if there's a murderer on the loose," Demeter replied.

"Old Deuteronomy is convinced that we have strength in numbers," Hera replied sternly.

"But what if the murderer is in the tribe?"

"He isn't."

"How do you know?" Demeter asked curiously. "Does it…does it have anything to do with Macavity?" Hera turned sharply towards her daughter with a shocked look on her face.

"How do you know that name?" she demanded fearfully.

"I hear all the adults talking about him. Who was Mara? Why did Macavity kidnap her?" Hera looked like she was about to have a heart attack, and gestured for Demeter to keep her voice down. Looking around fearfully, Hera began whispering so quietly that Demeter had to move closer to her in order to hear.

"You were just a kitten at the time, and we didn't want to frighten any of you," her mother began carefully. "Macavity was always a bit of an outcast within the tribe. Kept to himself; talked about magic all the time. He never really made a huge effort to take care of himself either, although I think that was due to a lack of real guidance from older cats. His only real friend was a cat named Mara. She was a kind, gentle cat who loved to dance. I think she really felt sorry for him. Well, as you might guess, he fell madly in love with her, or at least he thought that's what it was. When she refused to return his affections, he resorted to violence and she was hurt rather badly. Macavity himself disappeared. A few months later it became apparent that Mara was expecting, and well…though she never acknowledged the rumors, most people thought that the child was Macavity's."

"Quaxo? That tiny black kitten who's always helping to watch over the newborns?"

"Yes, the very same. Your friend Munkustrap has been looking after him since Mara died, you know."

"Yes, I know," Demeter murmured, unexpected heat rushing through her at the mention of her older friend. A thought occurred to her. "Why do people think he's Macavity's?"

"Well, he wasn't at the scene when Mara was found, but she didn't have a mate at the time and no one else would own up to being the father, so..."

"I see," Demeter murmured. She glanced outside and gasped. "Mother, we have to go! We'll be late for the ball!"

"O-of course, dear," Hera stammered, taken aback by the abrupt change in subject.

Demeter rushed out the door, feeling that they air was charged and forgetting all about the ominous topic of conversation. She saw her friends all gathered, looking tense yet elated. This was not like other times when a few Jellicles would gather and make a dance routine for the rest of the tribe to see. No, this would be unrehearsed and entirely instinctual, or at least so Demeter had been told by the older Jellicles. The Jellicle Moon hung high and breathtakingly immense in the heavens, no different from any other full moon to any except those who were gathered this night.

Suddenly, as if on cue, all the Jellicles looked one by one to the sky and began to dance.

Demeter had never practiced this dance before, nor had she heard the music that suddenly seemed everywhere, inside her head and all around her—the dance of the Jellicle Moon, ingrained into the body and heart and mind of every Jellicle kitten before birth. This was what they lived for.

Demeter danced, sometimes among her friends, sometimes among adults she barely new—some of those who were experienced had solos, and others did not, but it didn't matter. Everyone knew their part that surely must have been designed for them by the Everlasting Cat.

Suddenly, Demeter found that everyone had fallen away to the ground, yet she knew somehow that she was to remain standing. Barely a second passed before she realized she needed a partner for this particular part of the dance, and suddenly before her was Munkustrap. His silver fur shone, and the black stripes gleamed—to Demeter, he had never before looked so…desirable. Shyly, he nuzzled her. Demeter leaped away, startled, but then relented to his slow advances. He lifted her up, higher and higher, and then lowered her with a tenderness she was not expecting, breathing in her scent. It may have only been a dance, only a symbolic act, but oh…it was true ecstasy.

When it was all over, Demeter lay next to Munkustrap and smiled at him. He smiled back hesitantly.

Suddenly, there was a change in the music. Skimbleshanks, a Jellicle a little older than Demeter, sat up, sniffing the air. Soon all the Jellicles were up, looking at the sky expectantly.

The music came again, different this time—where before it had been full of anticipation and pent-up energy and nervousness, now it was joyful and rapturous. Everyone danced together. This time, no one was a soloist. This was all about _what it was to be a Jellicle_.

As the Jellicle Ball finally ended, cats started immediately disappearing into the darkness without a word. Demeter, suddenly feeling a need to be by herself and think, joined them and slunk off towards her den, avoiding Munkustrap's eyes. Curling up in a ball with the last strains of music still echoing in her mind, Demeter quickly fell asleep. No one noticed a pair of eyes glowing menacingly on the edge of the junkyard, and no one heeded the feeling of foreboding that they quickly buried underneath the ecstasy of the evening.

**In case no one picked up on it, this was Demeter's first Jellicle Ball. Yes, Quaxo is Mistoffelees and Macavity is his father. Don't worry! Our villain will show up soon, and the plot will definitely pick up speed within the next two chapters. I just needed to give some backstory first and establish a couple of things. Review, please!**


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